Oil prices eased on Thursday after gains in previous sessions, as attention turned to expectations of weaker global oil demand this year, while there was no progress on opening the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures slipped 42 cents, or 0.47%, to $88.56 a barrel by 0405 GMT. U.S., trimming gains made over the previous six sessions.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 55 cents, or 0.66%, to $82.72, after advancing over the past five sessions.
A senior Iranian source said on Wednesday there had been no progress in talks to revive an interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
“There was little in the way of fresh developments between the U.S. and Iran, with both sides remaining in a deadlock,” said ING analysts in a note on Thursday.
“Meanwhile, the latest large drone attack on Russia’s Novorossiysk port appears to have spared oil infrastructure, with no reports of damage to oil terminals as of now.”
With no change in the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the key factor that had driven prices higher over the past week, attention turned to the demand outlook following a surprise build in U.S. crude stocks and lower consumption forecasts from OPEC and the International Energy Agency.
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories posted their largest weekly gain since January 2023 as exports slumped, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 17.4 million barrels to 424.4 million barrels in the week ended August 7, their highest since June 5, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel draw.
On the same day, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its world oil demand growth forecast for 2026 to 580,000 barrels per day in its monthly oil market report.
At the same time, the International Energy Agency said it expects a 1.6 million bpd contraction in consumption this year, down from a forecast of 1 million bpd last month, with demand curtailed by higher prices and restricted supply due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Still, the deadlocked talks between Iran and the U.S. to end the war in the Gulf have kept a floor under prices.
“The safety situation for navigation in these waters has further deteriorated, forcing vessels to turn off their signals, which reduces transparency in shipping and makes it more difficult for the market to track and assess actual supply levels,” analysts at Haitong Futures said in a note.
(Reporting by Sam Li in Beijing and Siyi Liu in Singapore; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Sonali Paul)